Turkey: 3 PKK members killed in shootout

By Sener Toktas and Servet Tasdemir

BITLIS, Turkey

Three terrorists linked to the terrorist PKK organization were killed in the eastern Bitlis province during a gun battle with police, security sources said on Wednesday.

Three civilians were also injured, one of them seriously, said the unnamed sources, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking with the media.

The gunfight broke out on a highway between Van and the Bitlis province when PKK terrorists assaulted police with rocket launchers and long-barreled guns

The injured civilians were taken to a nearby hospital.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU – resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, nearly 600 security personnel, including troops, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred, and more than 7,700 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.